Archives for March 16, 2019

ETH price broke a major resistance area near $133-134 to climb higher against the US Dollar.The price settled above the key $134 resistance to move into a positive zone.There was a break above a major contracting triangle with resistance at $133 on the 4-hours chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken).The pair is currently correcting lower, but it is likely to find a strong buying interest near $134.Ethereum price is trading with a bullish bias versus the US Dollar and Bitcoin. ETH/USD climbed towards $144 and it is currently correcting lower towards key supports near $134.Ethereum Price AnalysisThis past week, there was a couple of swing moves towards the $128 level in ETH price against the US Dollar. Later, the ETH/USD pair formed a solid support near the $129 and $130 levels. Finally, buyers gained traction and broke the $132 resistance area to move into a positive zone. The upside move was strong as the price even broke the $134 level and the 100 simple moving average (4-hours). The price action was constructive, opening the doors for more upsides above the $134 level.Moreover, there was a break above a major contracting triangle with resistance at $133 on the 4-hours chart of ETH/USD. The pair rallied above the $140 resistance level. It traded close to the $144 resistance zone. A high was formed just below $144 and later the price started a downside correction. It broke the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $128 low to $144 high. On the downside, there are many supports near the $135 level and the 100 simple moving average (4-hours).Besides, the 50% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the $128 low to $144 high is also near the $135 level to act as a support. Therefore, if the price continues to move down, it could find a strong support near the $134 or $135 level. If there is a downside break below $134, the price may move back in a bearish zone.The above chart indicates that ETH price made a nice upside move above the $134 and $140 barriers. There are many bullish signs above the $135 level and the 100 SMA. In the short term, there could be a consolidation phase above $135 before the price makes the next move. On the upside, the main hurdles near the $142, $144 and $145 levels.Technical Indicators4 hours MACD – The MACD for ETH/USD is about to move back in the bearish zone.4 hours RSI – The RSI for ETH/USD is moving lower from the 80 level and it could move towards the 50 level.Major Support Level – $134Major Resistance Level – $142

Rune Christensen, the CEO and founder of MakerDAO, came to the United States this week to visit the MIT Bitcoin Expo, among other things. Christensen took some time to talk to CCN about the status of MakerDAO’s full release.

Any Real Value Asset Can Potentially Back a Dai

He says the multi-collateral Dai release will have two major features, but the most important is, well, the addition of other types of collateral.

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“The first one is that it can support multiple collateral types. This of course means ERC-20 tokens. It also means Bitcoin through WBTC. A range of cross-chain assets that are emerging now. Also there will be other stablecoins. Centralized stablecoins that already exist on the Ethereum blockchain. But most importantly, security tokens.”

MKR token holders govern the actual assets allowed. However, it’s safe to say that things like Bitcoin and most ERC-20 tokens will be locked up in Dai CDPs before long.

Dai’s Approach to Crypto Governance

Rune Christensen, MakerDAO Foundation CEO

Governance is extremely important in the MakerDAO system. It’s what can make or break it. The MakerDAO foundation originally owned all the MKR tokens, but, as Christensen explains, they sold them off to key players in the Ethereum world to help fund their team of 100 people. These players included risk experts, economists, developers, and institutional investors.

“The fundamental reason why MKR exists is to vote in the system. It also has in-built incentive to ensure that people are actually going to do that.”

The system also rewards people who hold CDPs without using the Dai. Over time, a small reward builds up, called a risk premium.

When things are going well, the total supply of MKR – initially 1 million – is reduced through an automated system. Tokens are burned off, increasing the value of the remaining tokens.

If there is mismanagement in the system, and suddenly there is insolvency, the system regenerates MKR to re-capitalize the system. MKR voters are therefore held accountable, as such inflation lowers the value of their holdings.

Stablecoins Versus Pegged Crypto Assets

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The Dai is relatively unique in its functionality, and some consider it the “real stablecoin” as opposed to “pegged coins” which rely on centralized banks. It’s an open system, so people with cryptocurrencies in far-flung corners of the world can access the stability of its oracle system, which provides real-time pricing information to the network. MakerDAO’s oracles will see an upgrade for multiple assets.

Christensen goes on to explain that the emergence of real security tokens opens up the world of traditional assets to the blockchain.

Security Tokens – The Most Exciting Emerging Trend for MakerDAO’s CEO

Real security tokens can represent things like real estate or ownership in companies. Later in the call, Christensen says they are the most exciting prospect to him as regards the blockchain.

“Security tokens are still something that are quite new. But what that really represents to Maker is the ability to now interact with real-world assets. The ability to interact with real-world finance and provide arbitrage opportunities between the traditional finance world and the tokenized world. That means that in the future the Dai will not just be backed by volatile cryptocurrencies, but things like real estate, bonds, and stocks.”

Christensen was a very early adopter of cryptocurrency, entering the market around 2011. Not long after that, BitShares was launched, and he took an immediate interest in the mechanics of the first attempt at a decentralized stablecoin.

BitShares Done Right

One might consider MakerDAO a highly improved version of BitShares, built at a more opportune point in blockchain history. Readers may recall BitShares suffering a worldwide liquidity crisis not so long ago.

Every Dai (which represents $1 worth of Ethereum) has more than $1 worth of Ether behind it. Christensen explained that this is how the Dai survived the 2018 bear market. Even as the price went down, there was enough Ether in the smart contract to cover the amount of Dai issued. He estimated that figure to be about 92 million today, but there is almost 300% that amount of Ether actually locked up in the contract. MakerDAO first came to this reporter’s attention when its collateralized debt positions reportedly took up 1% of the Ether supply. That figure has since increased.

People use the Dai in all sorts of ways. Commonly, users create CDPs to take advantage of lower Ether prices. To redeem the Ethereum you have locked up in the smart contract, you must have the same amount of Dai to return. It’s just one way that people can make use of it.

Enabling the Global Blockchainization of All Things

Maker’s price has held up relatively well in the wake of the crypto crash. | Source: CoinMarketCap

This reporter asked Christiansen what he will do when the foundation eventually becomes unnecessary, a prospect he says he is looking forward to. He says he will probably create or join a company that services Dai, in some way shape or form. Christensen also explains that there is an industry growing up around the Dai.

He anticipates hundreds, if not thousands, of companies founded specifically to work around the Dai. Companies might facilitate the swap of different types of CDPs – trade your Ether CDP for a Bitcoin one, and vice versa. There will be companies helping merchants, and, all importantly, companies offering new types of lending to unbanked regions.

Multi-collateral Dai contracts are just around the corner. They will mean that Bitcoin holders can essentially get usable $1 tokens based on their holdings. One way to use them is to buy BTC with them when the price goes low. You then buy back the Dai when the price goes back up again, to pay off the CDP. That’s just one way to use the Dai, of course.

Perhaps the most important way to use it is as a stablecoin, like any other – except it has more collateral than a 1:1 ratio. A serious crash in the price of Ether could negatively affect the market. Such a situation would test the limits of MakerDAO, but it’s hard to imagine them going through much worse than they already have through the course of 2018.

If recent noises coming out of Wall Street are anything to go by, it looks like 2019 is shaping up to be the year of the institutions for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.

However, the arrival of the institutions as they stampede over that hill represents a double-edged sword. On the one hand, prices will almost certainly pump in the short to medium term, even if just by association alone.

On the other hand, we appear to be in the process of welcoming into our beds the very enemy that cryptocurrency was set up to defeat – the old, deep-rooted bloodlines of the financial elite.

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So yes, the institutions are absolutely coming to crypto, and if you think that’s a good thing, then this may be a good time to ask where your loyalties actually lie.

Cryptocurrency’s Overton Window Threatens to Get Smaller

Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins, is touting its status as a “regulated” platform to lure institutions. | Source: Shutterstock

The Overton window refers to the range of ideas that are permitted to be discussed in the public sphere. The topics outside the window aren’t necessarily banned or censored – they’re just buried so deep that most people don’t know they exist. Not until years later when you stumble across them in some shady corner of the internet, usually presented in the form of a rouge-colored pill.

As has already been witnessed in the r/bitcoin subreddit, when people have a vested interest to protect, they will quite happily make adjustments to the length and breadth of the Overton window to keep its range of view to their liking.

Deleting unfavourable comments from a crypto subreddit isn’t all that surprising, especially given how much rabid coin holders want to protect their investments. But there’s ample evidence to suggest that the rampant censorship on r/bitcoin began only when the institutions arrived.

Those institutions are the financial backers behind Bitcoin’s leading development group – Blockstream. They include AXA Venture Partners, an investment wing of AXA Group – the second largest financial services firm in the world. Blockstream has helped guide the development of Bitcoin since 2016, and if you didn’t already know that, then it may be because the Overton window has been set up specifically so that you don’t.

Without veering into the Bilderberg conspiracy, the censorship of r/bitcoin offers a taste of how the ‘old money’ institutions react to cryptocurrency’s open-source, decentralized ideals. They laugh, then proceed to take your money.

Recuperation: Absorbing Bitcoin Without Killing It

It’s hard to believe that Facebook was once hailed as a technological messiah. Will crypto suffer a similar fate? | Source: JOEL SAGET / AFP

“Whoops! The web is not the web we wanted in every respect.”

Those words were uttered by Sir Tim Berners-Lee earlier this year, as the man who invented the World Wide Web bemoaned the fact that the original dream of the internet had not come to fruition.

Berners-Lee was comparing the early 1990s notions of what the internet promised to be – free, open, anonymous, decentralized – with the internet we’ve come to know today – censored, controlled, tracked, and spied upon, thanks to the collusion of governments and big tech corporations.

Note: the internet didn’t need to be destroyed to have its disruptive potential neutralized; it only had to be brought round to the accepted way of doing things. This is a process which has happened often enough to gain its own name – recuperation, defined as:

“…the process by which politically radical ideas and images are twisted, co-opted, absorbed, defused, incorporated, annexed and commodified within media culture and bourgeois society, and thus become interpreted through a neutralized, innocuous or more socially conventional perspective.”

Some Bitcoin enthusiasts were predicting a fate of recuperation for the crypto space back in 2014, such as this early Bitcoin miner by the name of Stefan Molyneux.

Crypto is the Cure: But Will We Take Our Medicine in Time?

Bitcoin’s future success or failure as a tool of freedom will not come down to the efficiency of its technology, but whether or not people can step up to the responsibility of being their own caretaker. | Source: Shutterstock

The only way to avoid the snare of the banksters, the globalists, the mainstream, the man – whoever it may be – is to become independent and self-sufficient enough that we no longer need to buy what they’re selling. Under those conditions, no amount of propaganda or salesmanship would have an effect, since there would be no gaping hole left in our lives for them to fill.

The ears of libertarians should be picking up about now, and rightly so. The plight of libertarianism as a political ideology is very analogous to the plight of Bitcoin in its quest to liberate the masses from financial bondage.

The fate of libertarianism depends not on its efficacy as a system of governance, but rather on the ability of the average citizen to live up to its ideals. Likewise, Bitcoin’s future success or failure as a tool of freedom will not come down to the efficiency of its technology, but whether or not people can step up to the responsibility of being their own caretaker.

In today’s culture of dependence, the prospect of either of these eventualities coming to fruition seems slim. The education required to foster this new mentality of independence isn’t found in the public school system. If the sudden increase in Bitcoin’s use in Venezuela is anything to go by, then as is often the case as we look through history, we may first need to suffer catastrophe before we can see where we’ve gone wrong.

Perhaps a catastrophe similar to, or worse than, the one which caused a cipher named Satoshi Nakamoto to commence work on Bitcoin in 2008.

“03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.”

Bitcoin’s Future is Not Set – its Fate is what it makes for Itself

It’s unlikely that the established financial order will just saddle up and play along with the quasi-anarchist rules set up by a freakish band of coders and cypherpunks.| Source: Shutterstock

Look, if the institutions arrive and all they do is use cryptocurrency to diversify and boost their pension funds, then all is well. Prices will increase through increased demand and exposure, and all of us early adopters will reap the benefits of this adoption in the long run.

It’s unlikely, however, that the established financial order will just saddle up and play along with the quasi-anarchist rules set up by a freakish band of coders and cypherpunks. Yes, they’ll use the technology, but that doesn’t mean they’ll play by its rules.

This has been seen already as firms like JP Morgan and Facebook turn to creating their own cryptocurrencies – based on their own private protocols, with their own self-tailored rules. Strangely enough, this could turn out to be the most amicable solution between the cryptosphere and the institutions – they have their ‘cryptos,’ and we keep the real thing.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, CCN.

After a bout of sideways trading in the cryptocurrency markets, Bitcoin and other major cryptos have been able to garner an influx of buying pressure that has sent them climbing today. Ethereum (ETH) is one major cryptocurrency that has been able to climb today, but it is facing growing resistance around its current price levels.Despite this resistance, one analyst still has a target set for Ethereum around $200, which is significantly higher than its current price of $143.Ethereum (ETH) Faces Fresh Resistance Level Around $144At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading up over 3% at its current price of $142.5. Earlier today, ETH surged to highs of $144 before being swiftly pushed down its current price levels, signaling that this price is likely a fresh level of resistance.Despite this, UB, a popular cryptocurrency analyst on Twitter, recently explained that it is imperative that ETH closes above $139 today in order for further gains to be possible, as a close below this price would open the gates for further losses.“$ETH – Waiting on the daily close before taking a position… A close below ~$139 would be key for me to enter into a short position… $115 is still an area of interest for me if there’s downside,” he explained.$ETH – Waiting on the daily close before taking a position.A close below ~$139 would be key for me to enter into a short position.$115 is still an area of interest for me if there’s downside. #Ethereumpic.twitter.com/M9UC64ufqa— UB (@CryptoUB) March 16, 2019Analyst: ETH Still Likely to Target $200 in Near FutureEthereum’s recent price action may be quite bullish from a long-term perspective, as DonAlt, another popular cryptocurrency trader on Twitter, recently explained that he is targeting $200 for ETH in the near-future.“$ETH: When I opened my swing ETH long at $100 a month ago I targeted $200. My macro view is still the same, expecting far higher prices… I’ve been bearish for the last three weeks, that has changed with recent PA & this S/R flip. If I get stopped out I’ll try again lower,” DonAlt explained.$ETH :When I opened my swing ETH long at $100 a month ago I targeted $200.My macro view is still the same, expecting far higher prices.I’ve been bearish for the last three weeks, that has changed with recent PA & this S/R flip.If I get stopped out I’ll try again lower. pic.twitter.com/xvH8ohfjq9— DonAlt (@CryptoDonAlt) March 15, 2019If the crypto markets, led by Ethereum, are able to continue surging as the weekend drags on, it will likely set a positive tone for the week ahead, and could lead Ethereum to climb as high as $200, which would validate DonAlt’s technical analysis.Traders should look towards Bitcoin for guidance as to where the markets are heading next, as it is critical that BTC is able to maintain above $4,000 in order for further gains to be possible.Featured image from Shutterstock.

The tides have seemingly begun to turn in the favor of Bitcoin (BTC). Volumes have surged across the board, all while the flagship cryptocurrency has slowly moved to and past the auspicious $4,000 price point. And with this, many have begun to call to an end of the bear market, in spite of the fears that lower lows are inbound.Related Reading: Exclusive: Why Tron CEO Expects Bitcoin, Crypto Assets To Rally In 2020BTC Moves Past $4,000, Watch The BreakoutPer data from Live Coin Watch, Bitcoin has moved past $4,000 for the first time in a number of weeks. As of the time of writing, BTC is up by 2%, as altcoins have surged across the board. While most established crypto assets, like Ethereum and XRP, have tracked the market leader almost to a tee, some lesser-known projects have seen double-digit percentage gains. Crypto.com’s token has quintupled in the past 72 hours, while Bitcoin Cash has seen a +20% day.Yet, all eyes are still on BTC, as this specific asset dictates the broader market movements. And interestingly, analysts are more bullish than bearish. Popular Twitter commentator Rhythm Trader, also known as Alec Ziupsnys, noted that the fact that BTC trading volume surmounted $11 billion has him glowing.Bitcoin trading volume tops $11 billion for the first time in nearly a year.Don’t be caught picking up a penny in front of a steamroller. pic.twitter.com/iv3yr5BNkv— Rhythm Trader (@Rhythmtrader) March 15, 2019Referencing a tweet he made regarding catching Bitcoin’s bottom, he adds that traders shouldn’t be “caught picking up a penny in front of a steamroller.”Per previous reports, Rhythm Trader is under the belief that more likely than not, this market has found a bottom. Just days ago, he explained that while history does not repeat itself, it rhymes, setting precedent for Bitcoin to embark on a slow but steady grind past $20,000 by the start of 2021.In a separate tweet, he notes that a short-term rebound to $6,000 is entirely possible, citing the fact that in his eyes, November’s drop was the final bout of capitulation that wiped most negativity from the market. This, of course, could set a precedent for a “return to mean,” as Ziupsnys calls the expected recovery.Alex Krüger, The Crypto Dog, and a mass of other prominent traders have also expressed positivity over the past week, accentuating improving underlying industry conditions.Crypto charts looking great. Been waiting for BTC to break $4000 for almost three weeks now.— Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) March 16, 2019Bitcoin Fundamentals Are Strong TooFundamentals seem to be strong too. Conner Fromknecht recently drew attention to the stellar growth in the Lightning Network, citing data from 1ML to show that the scaling solution can now process upwards of 1,000 BTC. Just months ago, this statistic was well under 500 BTC.LN just crossed 1,000 BTC (~$4M) in advertised capacity! When 10k? pic.twitter.com/5omzTXVqSz— Conner Fromknecht ⚡️ (@bitconner) March 16, 2019Institutional developments, save for CBOE’s recent decision to shutter (or at least pause) its Bitcoin futures contract, have also created a bullish narrative. Bakkt is nearing launch, as Fidelity has soft-launched its cryptocurrency division to a crowd of selected clients. And it seems that there is a massive amount of demand for such products, as 20% of the 450 institutions that Fidelity assessed have got involved in cryptocurrency in some way, shape, or form.Featured Image from Shutterstock

There’s no question that by-and-large most academics and professors aren’t the biggest fans of Bitcoin and crypto in general, but it remains unclear as to whether or not their biases will change as the nascent technologies evolve.In a recent interview, one prominent Yale professor shared his thoughts on cryptocurrencies, and expressed some unique ideas regarding the trends surrounding ledger-based decentralized currencies and the demand for a store of value outside the traditional banking system.Professor: There is a Demand for Currencies Outside of the Banking System, Could Bitcoin be the Solution?William Goetzmann, a professor at Yale and a Pulitzer Prize recipient who is an expert on the history of finance, shared his thoughts on cryptocurrencies in a recent interview, and offered an opinion on the quickly evolving technologies that is seldom seen within the high-brow academic circles.Although Goetzmann initially expressed a cautious sentiment towards Bitcoin, noting that there are several fundamental risks currently inherent to the technology, he further expressed that there is a demand for a way of transferring or storing value outside of the global banking system.“I suspect there is a demand for a way of transferring and storing value outside of the purview of the global banking system, but just how to figure out the fundamental value is quite a challenge,” he explained.Crypto May be Harkening Back to Ancient Forms of CurrencyAnother interesting thought expressed by Goetzmann was that some ancient forms of currency were strikingly similar to modern forms of cryptocurrency.“In ancient times, some of the money actually resembled today’s cryptocurrency in the sense that it was all based on accounts, a ledger. There’s no physical Bitcoin; you can buy, sell, and trade Bitcoin with other people, but it’s really an accounting transaction more than anything else,” he noted.Although there are hints of excitement in his tone, he further added that in order for Bitcoin to be a true form of currency, it must have greater levels of stability so that it can be a reliable store of value.“There are a few basic things any currency has to fulfill. It has to be a store value. It has to be a unit of account. It has to be a method of transferring value. With Bitcoin, because it fluctuates so much, it’s not a particularly good store of value… Until it overcomes that particular feature, it’s not a great currency.”As the crypto markets continue to evolve and garner greater levels of stability, the case against Bitcoin being a true currency will be shattered, as it will then fulfill all of the aforementioned base requirements of a currency.Featured image from Shutterstock.

Cardano (ADA) price up 17.4 percentCoinBase could offer support for ADATransaction averages almost double in the last two weeksAfter dropping from the top 10, Cardano (ADA) is up 17.4 percent in the previous week. Because of this, it is one of the top performers and could register more gains if CoinBase supports ADA.Cardano Price AnalysisFundamentalsOn one end, CoinBase never-ending controversy makes them appear weak. However, as the third most liquid exchange after Binance and Liquid, their influence cannot be written off. The CoinBase Effect may be waning after the exchange’s effort of increasing the number of coin offering. Regardless, listing exposes the asset to more than 25 million customers tagging extra demand from an exchange that is secure (never hacked) and insured.Back in Q2 2018, CoinBase said they were exploring five coins including Cardano (ADA). During their consideration, they would work with banks as well as regulators to enable the roll out in as many jurisdictions as possible. At the same time, they were trying to remain as transparent as possible to avert accusations of insider trading.Of the five coins, Cardano (ADA) is the only asset that is yet to be listed. Against expectations, in the last three quarters, CoinBase were aggressive, listing diminutive and low liquid assets as BAT, OX, and ZCash (ZEC). To some extent, this was understandable since ADA as a coin remained centralized as development steps up. However, the recent conclusion of Byron and the transition to Shelly would increase chances of a listing at CoinBase.Candlestick ArrangementsFlipping Tron (TRX) and Cosmos (ATOM), Cardano (ADA) is back to the top 10 after adding 17.4 percent from last week’s close. Although part of this is because of investor expectations, it is favorable fundamentals and attractive candlestick arrangement that places buyers at an advantage.From the chart, it is clear that bulls are in control. While trading in a breakout pattern above 4.5 cents, bears are yet to reverse gains of Mar 9. Concurrently, the last two bars seem to be breaking away from the 90-day consolidation as they band along the upper BB.If anything, this points to bulls and risk-off, aggressive traders should fine-tune entries in lower time frame with targets at 6 cents.Technical IndicatorOur stand out bar is Mar 11. As a high volume bar—324 million against 128 million average, it anchors our ADA/USD price analysis.Expectedly, after that surge in volumes, participation drop but is expected to rise. As bull momentum pick up, any spike towards 6 cents must be at the back of high volumes exceeding averages of 167 million.In turn, the breakout bar nullifying bears above 6 cents must have high transaction volumes above 324 million. Already, transaction volumes are double in the last two weeks—89 million to 166 million.

Another week, another influx of intriguing pieces of crypto news. This week saw an array of interesting industry happenings, as the Bitcoin (BTC) price kept relatively flat. While there were some harrowing pieces of news, developments in this space were arguably positive overall.Comments issued to NewsBTC at Token2049 would confirm this sentiment. Like many others we spoke to, Justin Sun, the chief executive of Tron, expressed optimism, explaining that the growth of the Lightning Network, the impending arrival of the block reward reduction, and his company’s BitTorrent integration is why he expects for the coming year to be strong.Related Reading: Exclusive: Why Tron CEO Expects Bitcoin, Crypto Assets To Rally In 2020Crypto TidbitsBarclays Analyst Estimates Facebook to Net $19 Billion From Crypto Offering By 2021: Per CNBC, which cited research compiled by Barclays’ Ross Sandler, the Silicon Valley-based Facebook may stand to gain $19 billion in revenue by 2021 for the launch of Facebook Coin (FBCoin). Sandler explained that if worst comes to worst, the social media giant may ‘only’ net $3 billion revenues from the digital asset, a (centralized) cryptocurrency reported to be a USD-backed stablecoin for that social media ecosystem. This means that the Silicon Valley firm’s first consumer-facing blockchain product could be integral in the company’s future, which is now uncertain due to privacy concerns, executive departures, and the ever-present #deletefacebook movement.

MercadoLibre, a Latin American e-commerce giant with a presence in nearly 20 countries, recently started warning users that cryptocurrency-related listings will be banned from its platform. The company made the announcement just days after receiving a $750 million investment from PayPal.

$22 Billion Latin American E-Commerce Giant Bans Crypto Listings

The e-commerce retailer’s move comes as it also cracks down on pre-paid cards and digital currencies used in games. The measure will take effect from March 19 onward, according to an email the company has been sending its vendors.

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In the email, MercadoLibre notes that the vendor has listings related to cryptocurrencies or pre-paid cards for games and asks them to finalize them as soon as possible, as they’ll be automatically dropped on March 19.

Local news outlet Criptomoedas Fácil reports that in Brazil alone – one of the 18 countries MercadoLibre serves – there are over 5,630 bitcoin-related ads and over 9,320 cryptocurrency-related listings. Ripple (XRP), reportedly the most popular cryptocurrency on the Latin American platform, appears in more than 11,100 ads.

Last year, a bitcoin wallet and merchant processing service called Ripio entered a partnership with MercadoLibre, so the platform could allow its users to withdraw received funds directly in bitcoin. Both MercadoLibre and Ripio are Argentine firms.

Why the e-commerce retailer is dropping cryptocurrency-related listings is currently unclear. Platforms that have banned ads and products related to the crypto space in the past pointed to various reasons revolving around fraud, potential illicit activities, and user security.

MeradoLibre Raised $1.85 Billion – with PayPal’s Help

MercadoLibre stock has rapidly appreciated over the past several months, with the latest jump coming after PayPal dumped $750 million into MELI shares. | Source: Yahoo Finance

Notably, the e-commerce giant has recently raised $1.85 billion to boost its investment in logistics and invest in fintech and payment solutions. The company’s main market, Brazil, has been under pressure thanks to Amazon‘s presence in the region.

According to Bloomberg, MercadoLibre raised that massive amount of capital through a public share offering and through direct investments from companies that included PayPal Holdings.

The e-commerce firm reportedly made a $1 billion offering of common stock, priced at $480 a share, making it one of the largest equity sales an Argentine firm has made in the past ten years. At the time, bids for the sale surpassed $6 billion, helping its stock rise nearly 5% to trade at over $500. Since then, it has dropped to $488.

The sale saw PayPal agree to make a $750 million strategic investment in the company, while an affiliate of Dragoneer Investment Group was set to purchase $100 million of perpetual convertible preferred stock.

Sean Summers, MarcadoLibre’s chief marketing officer, claimed at the time that the firm’s investors have a “sense that Latin America is at a tipping point in terms of e-commerce growth.” The funds the company raised are to be used on its largest markets – Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina – and will be split evenly among e-commerce and fintech.

While PayPal itself won’t participate on the Argentine giant’s board or take an active role in its day-to-day operations, it started having meetings with it to “work together on best practices in financial technology.”

Before the funding round, MercadoLibre had already started increasing the use of online payments through QR codes and mobile devices. While it isn’t clear whether PayPal was directly involved in the Argentine firm’s move to bar crypto sales, analysts have in the past claimed bitcoin is “potentially disruptive” to its business model.

Bitcoin prices up after upswings in the Asian sessionTraders will start paying maker fees in CoinBase Pro beginning Mar 22Transaction volumes likely to increase as Bitcoin prices expandCoinBase Pro decision to charge maker fees and bar stops on market orders could decrease market liquidity as traders shy away. All the same, Bitcoin (BTC) bulls are back and likely to print above $4,500 in days ahead.Bitcoin Price AnalysisFundamentalsPrices may be bottoming, but it is fundamental events that are making headlines. Saved by a lenient Japanese court, Mark is a free man and cleansed from customers accusing him of embezzling funds while he was in charge of the now defunct Mt Gox. Then $350 million were lost through hacking, and four years later, the hack of Coincheck forced Japanese authorities to impose stringent rules in a bid to protect end users.However, it is the decision of CoinBase Pro to restructure and charge maker fees that seem to ruffle investors and account holders. Claiming the decision is aimed at optimizing the market health of the trading platform, the introduction of the 0.15 percent fees for all trades with average monthly trading volumes will likely draw more heat in an exchange that is reeling from another controversial of acquiring Neutrino and listing of XRP.Note that, it has been two weeks or so when they last had to deal with a campaign urging users to delete their accounts, and this decision will reignite more talk if not trigger migration to other liquid exchanges as Binance.Candlestick ArrangementsSpurred by Asian session activity, Bitcoin (BTC) prices are up, trading above $4,000—according to data from BitFinex. After days of accumulation, this is bullish for BTC, and in days ahead we expect prices to edge higher as laid out in our last BTC/USD price analysis.As mentioned, bulls are technically in charge thanks to bulls of late Dec and early Jan 2019 rejecting lower lows. However, it is once prices rally above $4,500 complete with above average volumes is when conservative traders can ramp up in lower time frames with targets at $5,800 and $6,000.In line with these events, risk-off traders should fine-tune entries in lower time-frames. After that, they can prepare for price expansion now that today’s bar seems to be realigning and banding with the upper BB.Technical IndicatorsFeb 18 and 24 bars are the foundation of our analysis. The latter is a bear bar with high transaction volumes—36k. Recent price action is within the bar’s high low. It is after when there is a complete reversal of Feb 24 losses complete with high trading volumes—above 36k is when traders can load up as mentioned above.